Software Diagnostics and Observability Institute

Our tools are only as good as our pattern language.

Analysis patterns for the quality of software diagnostics and observability in endpoint devices, enterprise, and cloud environments.

Diagnostics is the mother of problem solving.

All areas of human activity involve the use of diagnostics. Proper diagnostics identifies the right problems to solve. We are now a part of a non-profit organization dedicated to the developing and promoting the application of such diagnostics: systemic and pattern-oriented (pattern-driven and pattern-based).

Please join LinkedIn The Software Diagnostics and Anomaly Detection Group.

Seven years ago, PatternDiagnostics.com coined the term "Pattern-Oriented AI," and here's a 3-level description of it in cooperation with GenAI, from general to narrow application, that reflects the recent developments in AI:

1. Pattern-Oriented AI is the practice of expressing every AI concern—data, models, learning, inference, interaction, safety, evaluation, and operations—as a catalog of patterns with clear intent, preconditions, forces, trade-offs, failure modes, and compositions. You then engineer systems by selecting and composing patterns, monitor them by detecting pattern signatures, and govern them by enforcing pattern constraints.
2. Pattern-Oriented AI Diagnostics is the study, cataloging, and analysis of recurrent behavioral, structural, or epistemic patterns in the lifecycle of AI systems — across training, inference, alignment, drift, and agentic behavior — using the same methodological scaffolding as pattern-oriented software diagnostics.
3. Pattern-Oriented AI as applied in software diagnostics is an approach to artificial intelligence (or diagnostic systems) that emphasizes recognizing, categorizing, and applying “patterns” of anomalous behavior, data flows, memory dumps, traces/logs, structural irregularities, and so on — in software diagnostics, forensics, observability, anomaly detection, and root cause analysis contexts.

Source: ChatGPT 5 conversation

In cooperation with GenAI, we propose a pattern language for managing, diagnosing, and repairing context in large language model (LLM) systems. Inspired by memory dump analysis, it reframes conversational state—token windows, KV-caches, retrievals, and transcripts—as observable artifacts that can be read, segmented, and reasoned about.

1. Conceptual Alignment

Memory dump analysis: we have a frozen system state (heap, stack, registers, handles). You need structured ways (patterns) to interpret what happened and where anomalies lie.

LLM context management: we have a dynamic, limited-window context (tokens in the prompt + generated continuation). We need structured strategies to maintain coherence, recall, and relevance across long or shifting interactions.

So, both are about:

• State representation
• Navigation across levels of abstraction
• Pattern recognition to interpret meaning

2. Pattern Families Reapplied to LLMs

Using the memory dump analysis taxonomy, we can draw analogies:

Structural patterns (e.g., "Stack Trace", "Heap Graph")
Context trace: The sequence of tokens, messages, or embeddings.
Analog: analyzing token “call stacks” to identify where topic drift began.

Temporal patterns (e.g., "Periodicity", "Error Burst")
Context lifecycle: Recognizing conversation cycles (e.g., Q → A → refinement).
Analog: "periodic error" becomes recurring hallucination in long-form dialogue.

Anomaly patterns (e.g., "Corruption", "Dangling Pointer")
Context corruption: Where injected noise or forgotten details lead to contradictions.
Analog: dangling reference = the model invents details not grounded in earlier context.

Diagnostic trajectory patterns (navigating from symptom to root cause)
Prompt engineering trajectory: iterative refinement of instructions to steer model back on track.

3. Higher-Order Mappings

Context window ≈ address space
Tokens in the active window = accessible memory; past truncated context = paged-out memory.

Embeddings ≈ symbolic heap objects
External vector memory is like mapped heap regions that can be dereferenced on demand.

Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) ≈ dump analysis with external symbol servers
Just as debuggers resolve addresses via symbol servers, RAG resolves context gaps via external knowledge.

Chain-of-Thought ≈ call stack
Each reasoning step corresponds to a frame in a diagnostic stack trace.

4. Pattern Language as Meta-Framework

Memory dump analysis pattern language gives a meta-taxonomy for LLM context management research:

• Failure patterns (e.g., hallucination loops, context bleed, token starvation).
• Navigational patterns (re-establishing grounding when context is partially lost).
• Architectural patterns (multi-agent context partitioning, like multi-process memory spaces).

This creates a portable, semiotic map of context phenomena across LLM frameworks.

5. Possible Research / Practical Outputs

LLM Context Forensics: Classify anomalies using memory dump patterns using dump-like snapshots of LLM state (KV-caches, attention matrices, prompt logs).

Context Debugger: An Interactive tool where you can “walk the stack” of a conversation, identify dangling references, or detect periodic error hallucinations.

Pattern Language Extension: Extend diagnostic patterns with LLM-specific categories (e.g., Prompt Poisoning, Embedding Drift, Attention Collapse).

Memory dump analysis pattern language is highly portable to LLM context management. It can serve as a meta-diagnostic and design language for classifying, predicting, and repairing LLM context failures, much like it systematized memory dump interpretation.

Source: ChatGPT 5 conversation

Software Diagnostics Services organizes this online training course.

For approximate training content, please see the first 56 slides (there are 289 slides in total for the previous version) and TOC from the corresponding previous edition Memory Thinking book.

November 10 - 13, 17 - 20, 24 - 26, December 1 -4, 2025, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm (GMT) Price 99 USD Registration for 15 one-hour sessions

Solid C and C++ knowledge is a must to fully understand Windows diagnostic artifacts, such as memory dumps, and perform diagnostic, forensic, and root cause analysis beyond listing stack traces, DLL, and driver information. C and C++ for Windows Software Diagnostics training reviews the following topics from the perspective of software structure and behavior analysis and teaches C and C++ languages in parallel while demonstrating relevant code internals using WinDbg:

• relevant x64 overview
• a tour of relevant language(s) constructs - classic/legacy C++, C++11, and later standards including C++23
• Windows specifics
• pointers and references
• memory layout of structures and objects
• local, static, and dynamic memory
• object lifecycle
• standard library
• compilation, static and dynamic linkage
• multithreading and synchronization
• bad and insecure code
• … and more

The new version will include and expand on the following topics:

• floating point
• exceptions
• concepts, ranges, async
• Windows kernel space C and C++
• more on linkage
• more on standard library, containers, and algorithms
• more on value-based semantics
• more on metaprogramming
• more on optimization
• relevant ARM64 overview

System and desktop application programming on Windows using C and C++ is unthinkable without the Windows API. To avoid repeating some topics and save time, the training includes the Accelerated Windows API for Software Diagnostics book as a follow-up or additional reference. There is also a necessary x64 review for some topics, but if you are not used to reading assembly language, Practical Foundations of Windows Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing book is also included.

Before the training, you get the following:

• The current Memory Thinking for C & C++ Windows Diagnostics, Second Edition PDF book
• Practical Foundations of Windows Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing, Third Edition PDF book
• Accelerated Windows API for Software Diagnostics PDF book
• Access to Software Diagnostics Library with more than 440 cross-referenced patterns of memory dump analysis, their classification, and more than 70 case studies
• Recording of the previous training

After the training, you also get the following:

• The new third edition of the Memory Thinking PDF book with additional C and C++ examples
• Personalized Certificate of Attendance with unique CID
• The new recording

There is much confusion between diagnostics and observability (used in two senses). First, observability is a property, not a process. It concerns whether system internal states can be inferred from external outputs (observations) such as memory snapshots, traces, and logs. It is not enough to get a trace or memory dump file; these must be correctly engineered and procured using artifact acquisition patterns. The second usage of observability is to name a discipline.

What about a process? It is simply “observation”, a verb “observe” (previously called monitoring, which also has a second usage as a discipline), which is an inference from states to observations (nouns). We can do observations even if observability is not good, and get observations (observation results).

Correspondingly, diagnosability is a property. It is about whether we can infer instances of patterns of abnormal structure and behavior from observations by applying diagnostic analysis patterns.

Therefore, diagnostics is a process, too. We can perform diagnostics even if diagnosability is poor: we don’t get useful results for the subsequent root cause analysis or troubleshooting and debugging suggestions.

The following square shows relationships between these concepts:

The top row shows the relationship between abstract properties (conditions): observability enables diagnosability, because only a limited amount of diagnosability is possible without observability. However, the critical use of diagnosability improves observability.

The bottom row shows that observation feeds into diagnostics and vice versa, since more observations may be required after diagnostics.

Columns show that observability is used in practice via observation, and diagnosability is used in practice via diagnostics.

What about diagonals?

Observability to diagnostics. If a system is observable, diagnostics are feasible: “If you can observe enough, you can perform diagnostics,” a sufficient condition for diagnostics.

Diagnosability to observation. Diagnosability implies constraints on observation: “If diagnostics are possible, then your observation process is strong enough,” a necessary condition for diagnosability.

Also, diagnostics can improve observability, and observations can improve diagnosability, but we do not show these arrows.

Although observability is distinct from diagnostics as seen from the diagram and explanation, it is considered a part of pattern-oriented and systemic diagnostics; this part, as a discipline (not a property), is called pattern-oriented observability.

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training packs:

WinDbg Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Windows Debugging Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Complete Windows Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The full Software Diagnostics Services training transcript with 15 step-by-step exercises, notes, and source code of specially created modeling applications. The course covers 22 .NET memory dump analysis patterns, plus the additional 21 unmanaged patterns. Learn how to analyze .NET 9 application and service crashes and freezes, navigate through memory dump space (managed and unmanaged code), and diagnose corruption, leaks, CPU spikes, blocked threads, deadlocks, wait chains, resource contention, and more. The training consists of practical step-by-step exercises using WinDbg and LLDB debuggers to diagnose patterns in 64-bit process memory dumps from x64 Windows and x64 Linux environments. The training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented analysis approach to speed up the learning curve. The book is a completely revamped and extended the previous Accelerated .NET Core Memory Dump Analysis, Revised Edition. It is updated to the latest WinDbg. It also includes reviews of x64 and IL disassembly and memory space basics, Linux LLDB exercises, .NET memory dump collection on Windows and Linux, and the relationship of analysis patterns to defect mechanism patterns.

Prerequisites: Basic .NET programming and debugging.

Audience: Software technical support and escalation engineers, system administrators, DevOps, performance and reliability engineers, software developers, and quality assurance engineers. The book may also interest security researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts.

• Title: Accelerated .NET Memory Dump Analysis: Training Course Transcript with WinDbg and LLDB Practice Exercises, Seventh Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (May 2025)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF: 324 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636877

Table of Contents and Sample Exercise
Slides from the training

Software Diagnostics Services organizes this online training course.

January 5 - 8, 12 - 15, 19 - 22, 26 - 29, 2026, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm (GMT) Price 99 USD Registration for 16 one-hour sessions

For the approximate content, please see the slides from the previous training:

Slides from sessions 1-3
Slides from sessions 4-7

This training includes over 40 step-by-step exercises and covers over 100 crash dump analysis patterns from x64 process, kernel, and complete (physical) memory dumps. Learn how to analyze application, service, and system crashes and freezes, navigate through memory dump space, and diagnose heap corruption, memory leaks, CPU spikes, blocked threads, deadlocks, wait chains, and more with the WinDbg debugger. The training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented analysis approach developed by Software Diagnostics Institute to speed up the learning curve, and it is based on the latest 6th edition of the bestselling Accelerated Windows Memory Dump Analysis book. This new training version also includes:

• Overview of relevant Windows internals
• Memory dump collection methods and patterns
• Defect mechanism patterns
• Additional memory analysis patterns
• Extended coverage of BSOD
• Extended coverage of system hangs
• New kernel exercises with source code

Before the training, you get:

• Practical Foundations of Windows Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing, Third Edition PDF book
• The current PDF book version
• The previous training recording
• Access to Software Diagnostics Library with more than 440 cross-referenced patterns of memory dump analysis, their classification, and more than 70 case studies

After the training, you also get:

• The new 7th PDF book edition
• Personalized Certificate of Attendance with unique CID
• Optional Personalized Certificate of Completion with unique CID (after the tests)
• Answers to questions during training sessions
• New training sessions recording

Prerequisites: Basic Windows troubleshooting

Audience: Software technical support and escalation engineers, system administrators, security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts, DevSecOps and SRE, software developers, and quality assurance engineers.

If you are mainly interested in .NET memory dump analysis, there is another training: Accelerated .NET Memory Dump Analysis

If you are interested in Linux memory dump analysis, there is another training: Accelerated Linux Core Dump Analysis

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording, the previous edition (x86 32-bit chapters), and training slides from Software Diagnostics Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The previous edition (x86 32-bit chapters) is also available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon or in PDF format from Leanpub

The book is also included in most training courses and training packs:

Training Courses

This training course is a reformatted, improved, and modernized version of the previous x64 Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations book, which drew inspiration from the original lectures we developed 22 years ago to train support and escalation engineers in debugging and crash dump analysis of memory dumps from Windows applications, services, and systems. At that time, when thinking about what material to deliver, we realized that a solid understanding of fundamentals like pointers is needed to analyze stack traces beyond a few WinDbg commands. Therefore, this book is not about bugs or debugging techniques but about the background knowledge everyone needs to start experimenting with WinDbg, learn from practical experience, and read other advanced debugging books. This body of knowledge is what the author of this book possessed before starting memory dump analysis using WinDbg 18 years ago, which resulted in the number one debugging bestseller: the multi-volume Memory Dump Analysis Anthology (Diagnomicon). Now, in retrospection, we see these practical foundations as relevant and necessary to acquire for beginners as they were more than 20 years ago, because operating systems internals, assembly language, and compiler architecture haven't changed much in those years.

The third edition, with new material on arrays and floating point, was completely remastered in full color. The text was also reviewed, and a few previous mistakes were corrected. The book is also slimmer because the x86 32-bit chapters were removed. They are still available in the previous edition, which will not be out of print soon. The third edition is entirely x64.

The book is useful for:

• Software technical support and escalation engineers
• Software engineers coming from a managed code or JVM background
• Software testers
• Engineers coming from non-Wintel environments
• Windows C/C++ software engineers without an assembly language background
• Security researchers without an x64 assembly language background
• Beginners learning Windows software reverse engineering techniques

This introductory training course can complement the more advanced Accelerated Disassembly, Reconstruction, and Reversing course. It may also help with advanced exercises in Accelerated Windows Memory Dump Analysis, Accelerated Rust Windows Memory Dump Analysis, Accelerated Windows Debugging⁴, Accelerated Windows API for Software Diagnostics, Accelerated Windows Malware Analysis with Memory Dumps, and Memory Thinking books for C and C++. This book can also be used as an Intel assembly language and Windows debugging supplement for relevant undergraduate-level courses.

Product information:

• Title: Practical Foundations of Windows Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing: Training Course, Third Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF/Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: OpenTask (July 2025)
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636471

Table of Contents

For the history of the book, please see the first 20 slides (there are almost 200 slides for the training).

There are many spaces where we do our observations in software systems. The explosion of spaces began with the Abstract Space, where we depict running threads as braids.

When we talk about spaces, we also consider suitable space metrics (not to be mistaken with observability metrics below) by which we can compare the proximity of space objects.

In diagnostics, we have the so-called Diagnostic Spaces with their signals, symptoms, syndromes, and signs. Different analysis patterns can serve the role of space metrics in pattern-oriented software forensics, diagnostics, and prognostics.

Traces, logs, and metrics are pillars of observability that are all erected from Memory Space and, therefore, can be considered Adjoint Spaces. Memory spaces are also diverse: including manifold, orbifold, hyperphysical, physical, virtual, kernel, user, managed, and secondary, and have their own large-scale structures.

Traces and logs have their own individual Trace and Log Spaces (including Message Spaces, Interspaces, and Tensor Spaces. These also include network traces and logs from memory debuggers. (Observability) Metrics Spaces are a subtype of such spaces.

Traces and logs are also examples of the so-called software narratives with their own Software Narrative Spaces, including higher-level narratives, and space-like narratology. We can also consider software diagnostic spaces as general graphs of software narratives.

If we are concerned with the hardware-software interface, then we can consider Hardware Spaces via hardware narratology.

Presentation Spaces visualize other spaces, and visualization languages help with their meaning.

We analyze all these spaces to identify patterns with the help of analysis patterns, which are organized in their own Analysis Patterns Space (memory and traces).

Defect Mechanism Spaces help in root cause analysis.

When we delve into software workings, we are concerned with Software Internal Spaces.

Additionally, we have various Namespaces, Code Spaces (similar to Declarative Trace Spaces), State Spaces, and Data Spaces.

Artificial Chemistry Spaces based on the idea of spaces of chemistry enhance the artificial chemistry approach to trace and log analysis.

For many years, the ideas of various physical and mathematical spaces have inspired diverse memory and log analysis patterns, as well as some concepts in software diagnostics and software data analysis.

We would also like to mention that the book that introduces Information Space is featured on the cover of this article.

And finally, the new wave of AI suggests Token Spaces.

A partial classification of memory analysis patterns from Software Diagnostics Library pattern catalogue:

• Space/Mode
• Memory dump type
• Hooksware
• Wait Chain Patterns
• DLL Link Patterns
• Memory Consumption Patterns
• Dynamic Memory Corruption Patterns
• Deadlock and Livelock Patterns
• Contention Patterns
• Stack Overflow Patterns
• .NET / CLR / Managed Space Patterns
• Stack Trace Patterns
• Symbol Patterns
• Exception Patterns
• Meta-Memory Dump Patterns
• Module Patterns
• Optimization Patterns
• Thread Patterns
• Process Patterns
• Executive Resource Patterns
• Falsity and Coincidence Patterns
• RPC, LPC and ALPC Patterns
• Hidden Artifact Patterns
• Pointer Patterns
• Frame Patterns
• CPU Consumption Patterns
• Region Patterns
• Collection Patterns

Memory analysis icons were introduced more than 15 years ago, in March 2010, as part of computer memory semiotics (memiotics). Over the next year and a half, 101 icons were created (with black and white equivalents). These iconic representations are both icons and indexes in the sense of Pierce’s three types of signs: icon signs resemble artifacts or the current state of affairs, and index signs have some causal or relationship connection through interpretation. More than two years ago, in March 2023, we introduced Iconic Traces. These traces also consist of iconic representations that are both indexical and iconic signs, as they resemble the patterns, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic content of trace messages, message blocks, and applied trace analysis patterns. The Dia|gram language (introduced in 2016) pictures are another great example of complex iconic (structure) and indexical (behavior, observation, measurement) signs (including memory). The Space-like Narratology and the Lov language further extend the semiotic approach.

Situational awareness is defined as "the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. It is also defined as the perception of the elements in the environment considering time and space, the understanding of their meaning, and the prediction of their status in the near future."

How does it fit into software diagnostics, which is often incorrectly perceived as an analysis of the past (which is forensics)? To answer this question with examples from pattern-oriented software diagnostics (and forensics and prognostics), we should map the three levels of situational awareness (Endsley's model):

Perception – noticing key environmental forensic, diagnostic, and prognostic elements: symptoms, signs, syndromes, alerts, anomalies, and counters.

Comprehension – understanding the situation, what’s going wrong and what’s going on at the particular moment in time and place in memory space (and trace space), and what those key elements mean in current (and past) local immediate and wider big-picture context: software internals and analysis patterns (Fault Context, Message Context, Dump Context, Activity Context, Trace Context), whether they are related to a potential root cause or just surface phenomena (Effect Component). Here, attention to detail is very important.

Projection – anticipating the future: how the situation would have evolved if we had collected diagnostic artifacts later, for example, Near Exception, or the environment had changed (Changed Environment), and plenty of trace and log analysis patterns related to prognostics. It also includes avoiding unintended side effects when acting (providing recommendations), for example, the Instrumentation Side Effect.

In summary, situational awareness in software diagnostics, forensics, and prognostics involves maintaining an appropriate mental model of the system as seen from forensics and diagnostic artifacts (including live ones) and continuous perception, understanding, and anticipation of the system's state, anomalies, potential not-yet-discovered patterns, and future failures while performing a diagnostic (forensic, prognostic) analysis.

Metrics, logs, and traces are considered traditional pillars of observability. However, what is the base they stand upon? It is memory. In 2009, I defined software traces as fragments of memory since they are all assembled in memory first (Software Trace: A Mathematical Definition, Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3). Also, every trace or log message had some corresponding memory state(s) at the time it was generated, the so-called Adjoint Space trace and log analysis pattern (Volume 8b), and memory state may have traces and logs erected on its pedestal if we talk about classic memory dump analysis, the so-called Memory Fibration analysis pattern (Volume 10). These two analysis patterns are a kind of duality between memory and traces, the so-called De Broglie Trace Duality (Volume 10). Also, what about trace and log’s own memory? Based on the growing block universe theory analogy, any chosen trace message may be considered trace's present, and everything before it as trace’s past. We can also consider trace and log as memory to predict future behavior, next trace and log messages, and metrics’ values (the so-called process time perspective).

A note about the chosen terminology: base slab or foundation is used in modern structural design. If some prefer classical architecture, we can use stylobate or podium terminology. For each pillar, we can have a corresponding memory plinth.

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording and Windows/Linux API books from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics and Anomaly Detection Reference Set

Accelerated Rust Windows Memory Dump Analysis

GDB Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

Memory Thinking for Rust training reviews memory-related topics from the perspective of software structure and behavior analysis and teaches Rust language aspects in parallel while demonstrating relevant code internals using WinDbg and GDB on Windows (x64) and Linux (x64 and ARM64) platforms:

• Relevant language constructs
• Memory layout of structs and enums
• References, ownership, borrowing, and lifecycle
• Local, static, and dynamic memory
• Functions, closures
• Smart pointers
• Object-oriented and functional features
• Unsafe pointers
• Windows and Linux specifics
• … and much more

The new training version updates and extends the existing topics, adding some missing from the first edition. The updated PDF book also has a new format similar to the second edition of Memory Thinking books for C and C++.

The training includes the PDF book that contains slides, brief notes highlighting particular points, and related source code with execution output:

• Title: Memory Thinking for Rust: Slides with Descriptions and Source Code Illustrations, Second Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (April 2025)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 20.3
• PDF: 272 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636488

The following audiences may benefit from the training:

• Rust developers who want to deepen their knowledge
• Non-C and C++ developers (for example, Java, Scala, Python) who want to learn more about pointer and reference internals
• C and C++ developers who want to port their memory thinking to Rust quickly

For more detailed content, please see the first 15 slides (there are more than 240 slides for the training and 2,500 lines of Rust code) and Table of Contents from the reference book.

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF and ultra-premium color paperback formats with recording from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training packs:

GDB Training Pack

WinDbg Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Unix Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Linux Debugging Training Pack

Foundations of Linux Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Linux Memory Dump Analysis for Endpoint Security Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The full transcript of Software Diagnostics Services training. Learn how to analyze Linux process and kernel crashes and hangs, navigate through core memory dump space, and diagnose corruption, memory leaks, CPU spikes, blocked threads, deadlocks, wait chains, and much more. This training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented diagnostic analysis approach to speed up the learning curve. The training consists of more than 70 practical step-by-step exercises using GDB and WinDbg debuggers, highlighting more than 50 memory analysis patterns diagnosed in 64-bit core memory dumps from x64 and ARM64 platforms. The training also includes source code of modeling applications, a catalog of relevant patterns from the Software Diagnostics Institute, and an overview of relevant similarities and differences between Windows and Linux memory dump analysis useful for engineers with a Wintel background. In addition to various improvements, the fully revised and updated fourth edition adds entirely new material, such as defect mechanism patterns and WinDbg Linux kernel dump analysis exercises.

• Title: Accelerated Linux Core Dump Analysis: Training Course Transcript with GDB and WinDbg Practice Exercises, Fourth Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (January 2025)
• Language: English
• PDF/Paperback: 737 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636495

Table of Contents and Sample Exercise
Slides from the training

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording and Memory Dump Analysis Anthology from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses and training packs:

WinDbg Training Pack

Foundations of Windows Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

System API Patterns for Software Diagnostics Training Pack

Accelerated C & C++ for Windows Diagnostics

Accelerated Rust Windows Memory Dump Analysis

Memory Thinking for Rust

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The book contains the full Software Diagnostics Services training transcript with 10 hands-on exercises.

Knowledge of Windows API is necessary for:

• Development
• Malware analysis
• Vulnerability analysis and exploitation
• Reversing
• Diagnostics
• Debugging
• Memory forensics
• Crash and hang analysis
• Secure coding
• Static code analysis
• Trace and log analysis

The training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented analysis approach and provides:

• Overview
• Classification
• Patterns
• Internals
• Development examples
• Analysis examples

The second edition includes the relevant x64 disassembly overview and additional topics.

• Title: Accelerated Windows API for Software Diagnostics: With Category Theory in View, Second Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (December 2024)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF: 329 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636884

Table of Contents and sample exercise
Slides from the training

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording and Windows API and Memory Thinking for Rust books from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

WinDbg Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The book contains the full Software Diagnostics Services training transcript and 10 step-by-step exercises and covers dozens of crash dump analysis patterns from the x64 process and complete (physical) memory dumps. Learn how to analyze Rust application crashes and freezes, navigate through memory dump space, and diagnose heap corruption, memory leaks, CPU spikes, blocked threads, deadlocks, wait chains, and much more with the WinDbg debugger. The training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented analysis approach developed by the Software Diagnostics Institute to speed up the learning curve, and it is structurally based on the latest 6th revised edition of the bestselling Accelerated Windows Memory Dump Analysis book with the focus on safe and unsafe Rust code and its interfacing with the Windows OS. The training is useful whether you come to Rust from C and C++ or interpreted languages like Python and facilitates memory thinking when programming in Rust.

Prerequisites: Basic Windows troubleshooting and working knowledge of Rust.

Audience: Software technical support and escalation engineers, system administrators, security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts, DevSecOps and SRE, software developers, system programmers, and quality assurance engineers.

• Title: Accelerated Rust Windows Memory Dump Analysis
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (December 2024)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF: 233 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636891

Table of Contents and sample exercise
Slides from the training

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording and Memory Dump Analysis Anthology from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

WinDbg Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The book contains the full transcript of Software Diagnostics Services training with 25 hands-on exercises. This training course extends pattern-oriented analysis introduced in Accelerated Windows Memory Dump Analysis, Accelerated .NET Core Memory Dump Analysis, and Advanced Windows Memory Dump Analysis with Data Structures courses with:

• Surveying the current landscape of WinDbg extensions with analysis pattern mappings
• Writing WinDbg extensions in C, C++, and Rust (new)
• Connecting WinDbg to NoSQL databases
• Connecting WinDbg to streaming and log processing platforms
• Querying and visualizing WinDbg output data
• Using Data Science, Machine Learning, and Gen AI for diagnostics and postmortem debugging (new)

The new edition of the training updates existing exercises and includes new ones.

Prerequisites: Working knowledge of WinDbg. Working knowledge of C, C++, or Rust is optional (required only for some exercises). Other concepts are explained when necessary.

Audience: Software developers, software maintenance engineers, escalation engineers, quality assurance engineers, security and vulnerability researchers, malware and memory forensics analysts who want to build memory analysis pipelines.

• Title: Extended Windows Memory Dump Analysis: Using and Writing WinDbg Extensions, Database and Event Stream Processing, Data Science and Visualization, Machine Learning and AI, Second Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services
• Publisher: OpenTask (November 2024)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF: 362 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636518

Table of Contents and sample exercise
Slides from the training

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics and Anomaly Detection Reference Set

Accelerated C & C++ for Linux Diagnostics

Memory Thinking for C and C++ Training Pack

Foundations of Linux Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

GDB Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

Solid C and C++ knowledge is a must to fully understand Linux diagnostic artifacts such as core memory dumps and perform diagnostic, forensic, and root cause analysis beyond listing backtraces. This full-color reference book is a part of the Accelerated C & C++ for Linux Diagnostics training course organized by Software Diagnostics Services. The text contains slides, brief notes highlighting particular points, and source code illustrations. In addition to new topics, the second edition adds 45 projects with more than 5,500 lines of code. The book's detailed Table of Contents makes the usual Index redundant. We hope this reference is helpful for the following audiences:

• C and C++ developers who want to deepen their knowledge
• Software engineers developing and maintaining products on Linux platforms
• Technical support, escalation, DevSecOps, cloud, and site reliability engineers dealing with complex software issues
• Quality assurance engineers who test software on Linux platforms
• Security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts

• Title: Memory Thinking for C & C++ Linux Diagnostics: Slides with Descriptions and Source Code Illustrations, Second Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 20.3
• PDF: 292 pages
• Publisher: OpenTask (October 2024)
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636563

Table of Contents
The first 45 slides from the training (there are 297 slides in total)

Software Diagnostics Services organizes this online training course.

Why would you need to learn how to write bad code? Of course, not to write malicious code backdoors, but to understand software internals and diagnostics better. Writing "good" bad code is not easy, especially if you put specific requirements on it and are not satisfied with the accidental effects of "bad" bad code.

Topics include:

• Modeling abnormal software behavior
• Modeling memory analysis patterns
• Modeling trace and log analysis patterns
• Modeling defect mechanism patterns
• Simulation of complex software problems
• Software problem design patterns
• Fault injection
• Excellent bad code
• Portable bad code
• User and kernel code
• Avoiding compiler undefined behavior
• Debugging bad code to make it work as intended

The training also includes numerous hands-on coding projects using Visual C & C++ and GNU C & C++ compilers, x64 Windows, and x64 and ARM64 Linux platforms. Some parts will also use Python, C#, Rust, and Scala for modeling examples.

Before the training, you get:

• Practical Foundations of Windows Debugging, Disassembling, Reversing, Second Edition PDF book (+300 pages)
• Encyclopedia of Crash Dump Analysis Patterns, Third Edition (1,300 pages)
• Trace, Log, Text, Narrative, Data: An Analysis Pattern Reference for Information Mining, Diagnostics, Anomaly Detection, Fifth Edition (400 pages)
• Access to Software Diagnostics Library with more than 440 cross-referenced patterns of memory dump analysis, their classification, more than 70 case studies, and more than 240 general trace and log analysis patterns

After the training, you also get:

• The PDF book version of the training
• Personalized Certificate of Attendance with unique CID
• Recording

If you complete all parts, you will also get the fourth edition of the Encyclopedia of Crash Dump Analysis Patterns once it is available.

Audience:

C and C++ developers, Windows and Linux system programmers, software technical support and escalation engineers, system administrators, security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts, software developers, and quality assurance engineers.

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics and Anomaly Detection Reference Set

Accelerated C & C++ for Windows Diagnostics

Memory Thinking for C and C++ Training Pack

Foundations of Windows Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

WinDbg Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

Solid C and C++ knowledge is a must to fully understand Windows diagnostic artifacts, such as memory dumps, and perform diagnostic, forensic, and root cause analysis beyond listing stack traces, DLLs, and driver information. This full-color reference book is a part of the Accelerated C & C++ for Windows Diagnostics training course organized by Software Diagnostics Services. The text contains slides, brief notes highlighting particular points, and illustrative source code fragments. The second edition added 45 Visual Studio projects with more than 5,500 lines of code. The book's detailed Table of Contents makes the usual Index redundant. The book's detailed Table of Contents makes the usual Index redundant. We hope this reference is helpful for the following audiences:

• C and C++ developers who want to deepen their knowledge
• Software engineers developing and maintaining products on Windows platforms
• Technical support, escalation, DevSecOps, cloud and site reliability engineers dealing with complex software issues
• Quality assurance engineers who test software on Windows platforms
• Security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts

• Title: Memory Thinking for C & C++ Windows Diagnostics: Slides with Descriptions and Source Code Illustrations, Second Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 20.3
• PDF: 272 pages
• Publisher: OpenTask (July 2024)
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636617

Table of Contents
The first 56 slides from the training (there 289 slides in total)

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the optional recording and Linux API book from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

Linux Debugging Training Pack

GDB Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

Table of Contents and Sample Exercise
Slides from the training

The full transcript of Software Diagnostics Services training with more than 20 step-by-step exercises using WSL and Hyper-V environments, notes, and source code of specially created modeling applications in C, C++, and Rust. Learn live local and remote debugging techniques in the kernel, user process, and managed spaces using WinDbg, GDB, LLDB, rr, and KDB, KGDB debuggers. The unique and innovative course teaches unified debugging patterns applied to real problems from complex software environments. A necessary x64 and ARM64 review is also included.

Prerequisites: Working knowledge of one of these languages: C, C++, Rust. Operating system internals and assembly language concepts are explained when necessary.

Audience: Software engineers, software maintenance engineers, escalation engineers, SRE, DevOps and DevSecOps, cloud engineers, security and vulnerability researchers, malware and memory forensics analysts who want to learn live memory inspection techniques.

• Title: Accelerated Linux Debugging⁴: Training Course Transcript with WinDbg, GDB, LLDB, rr, KDB, KGDB Practice Exercises
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services
• Publisher: OpenTask (July 2024)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• PDF: 360 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636716

In addition to physical and virtual memory layers, we add another abstraction, the memory layer associated with source code values. We call it declarative memory. This term is not to be confused with declarative (or explicit) memory in neuropsychology. Memory corresponding to values in source code may be linearly organized but translated to a different layout by a compiler, or different values can be translated to the same virtual memory location. For example, in Rust (which prompted us to introduce this new memory concept), the following tuple is mapped to a different memory layout:

let i: i32 = 1;
let tuple: (bool, i32, &i32) = (true, 0, &i);

0:000> dt tuples!tuple
Local var @ 0x5c3196f2f0 Type tuple$<bool,i32,ref$<i32> >
   +0x004 __0              : 1
   +0x000 __1              : 0n0
   +0x008 __2              : 0x0000005c`3196f2ec  -> 0n1

0:000> dq 0x5c3196f2f0 L2
0000005c`3196f2f0  00000001`00000000 0000005c`3196f2ec

0:000> dd 0x5c3196f2f0 L4
0000005c`3196f2f0  00000000 00000001 3196f2ec 0000005c

Another virtual memory cell reuse example is the Optimized Code (function parameter reuse) memory analysis pattern.

Whereas in trace and log analysis, where there is the Declarative Trace analysis pattern where a declarative trace statement in source code may correspond to many actual trace statements, a kind of 1 to 0..N correspondence, declarative memory is usually M to N, where M >= N.
Similar to virtual-to-physical mapping, where the amount of virtual memory is greater than the amount of physical memory, the amount of declarative memory can be greater than the amount of virtual memory.

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training courses, training packs, and reference sets:

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology Volume Set (Diagnomicon)

Advanced Windows Memory Dump Analysis with Data Structures

Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics and Anomaly Detection Reference Set

Pattern-Oriented Windows Victimware Analysis Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Windows Crash Dump Analysis Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Windows Memory Forensics Training Pack

Windows Memory Dump Analysis for Endpoint Security Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Complete Windows Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

This reference volume consists of revised, edited, cross-referenced, and thematically organized selected articles from Software Diagnostics Institute (DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org) and Software Diagnostics Library (former Crash Dump Analysis blog, DumpAnalysis.org/blog) about software diagnostics, root cause analysis, debugging, crash and hang dump analysis, software trace and log analysis written from 15 April 2023 to 14 April 2024 for software engineers developing and maintaining products on Windows platforms, quality assurance engineers testing software, technical support, DevOps and DevSecOps, escalation and site reliability engineers dealing with complex software issues, security and vulnerability researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts. This volume is fully cross-referenced with volumes 1 – 15 and features:

- 17 new crash dump analysis patterns
- 13 new software trace and log analysis patterns
- New defect mechanism pattern
- Introduction to Lov language
- Lists of recommended books

Product information:

• Title: Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 16
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Institute
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 22.86 x 15.24
• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: OpenTask (April 2024)
• ISBN-13: 978-1-912636-16-7

Table of Contents

These volumes are now also called Diagnomicon!

The new Volume 16 brings the total number of books to 18.

Now includes the new Revised Edition of Volume 1, Revised Edition of Volume 2, Revised Edition of Volume 3, Revised Edition of Volume 4, and Revised Edition of Volume 5.

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology contains revised, edited, cross-referenced, and thematically organized selected articles from Software Diagnostics Institute and Software Diagnostics Library (former Crash Dump Analysis blog) about software diagnostics, debugging, crash dump analysis, software trace and log analysis, malware analysis, and memory forensics. Its 16 volumes in 18 books have more than 5,400 pages and, among many topics, include more than 440 memory analysis patterns (mostly for WinDbg Windows debugger with selected macOS and Linux GDB variants), more than 70 WinDbg case studies, and more than 240 general trace and log analysis patterns. In addition, there are three supplemental volumes with articles reprinted in full color.

Tables of Contents and Indexes of WinDbg Commands from all volumes

Click on an individual volume to see its description and table of contents:

You can buy the 16-volume set from Software Diagnostics Services with a discount and also get free access to Software Diagnostics Library.

Praise for the series:

I have been working with reversing, dumps, IAT, unpacking, etc. and I am one of the few at my workplace that like analyzing hangs and crashes. I always knew that I had more to learn. So I continuously look for more info. Many links directed me to dumpanalysis.org. Frankly speaking, its spartan/simple design made me question its seriousness. But after reading some articles, I immediately decided to order "Memory Dump Analysis Anthology". I have only read 100 pages so far. But I am stunned. It is such an amazing book. How the author refines/reconstructs the call stack, and finds useful information in the stack is incredible. I am enormously thankful for the effort that the author has put into making these books. They are very didactic even though the topic is a bit hard. It is a real treasure.

Mattias Hogstrom

The following direct links can be used to order the book now:

Available in PDF format with the recording and optional Memory Dump Analysis Anthology from Software Diagnostics Technology and Services

Available in PDF format from Leanpub

Available in ultra-premium color paperback format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Available in Kindle print replica format from Amazon

The book is also included in the following training packs:

WinDbg Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Windows Crash Dump Analysis Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Windows Memory Forensics Training Pack

Windows Memory Dump Analysis for Endpoint Security Training Pack

Pattern-Oriented Complete Windows Memory Dump Analysis Training Pack

Complete Pattern-Oriented Software Diagnostics Training Pack

The full transcript of the Software Diagnostics Services training course with 16 step-by-step exercises, notes, and selected questions and answers. Learn how to navigate through memory dump space and Windows data structures to diagnose, troubleshoot, and debug complex software incidents. The training uses a unique and innovative pattern-oriented analysis approach to speed up the learning curve. It consists of practical step-by-step exercises using WinDbg to diagnose structural and behavioral patterns in the 64-bit kernel and complete (physical) memory dumps. Additional topics include memory search, kernel linked list navigation, practical WinDbg scripting, registry, system variables and objects, device drivers, and I/O. Prerequisites are basic and intermediate level Windows memory dump analysis: the ability to list processors, processes, threads, modules, apply symbols, walk through stack traces and raw stack data, diagnose patterns such as heap corruption, CPU spike, memory leaks, access violation, wait chains and deadlocks. If you don't feel comfortable with prerequisites, then Accelerated Windows Memory Dump Analysis training book is recommended before purchasing and reading this book course. Audience: Software technical support and escalation engineers, system administrators, security researchers, reverse engineers, malware and memory forensics analysts, software developers, and quality assurance engineers. The fifth edition uses the latest WinDbg, includes the relevant Unified Modeling Language tutorial, revised and extended existing exercises, and added the exercise that demonstrates the use of a Generative AI LLM assistant.

• Title: Advanced Windows Memory Dump Analysis with Data Structures: Training Course Transcript and WinDbg Practice Exercises with Notes, Fifth Edition
• Authors: Dmitry Vostokov, Software Diagnostics Services, Dublin School of Security
• Publisher: OpenTask (March 2024)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 28.0 x 21.6
• Paperback: 341 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1912636952

Table of Contents and Sample Exercise